43 Failed
After a gruelling morning training session that went pretty good besides the fact persian is basically unaffected by Ferroseeds level of gravity with the MASSIVE power spike after his evolution, we were heading back home via the Slowpoke express to cool down a bit and eat before we run into town to grab some stuff.
Persians power spike has really shifted the dynamics of power in the group, not that meowth wasn't a top dog before its just…
Now in all in brawls that used to not have a definite Victor persian takes home the wins without even trying too hard, with his only real competitor being surprisingly Miltank of all Pokémon..
Ever since her and skiddo got their ass handed to them and managed to escape before being able to rest temporarily only to be thrown into a raging death match again 3 borderline apex predators really drove home that she wasn't on the farm anymore.
Yes she trained and pretty hard too but she never really felt the need to be stronger because she would be more of a support, but the Ursaring incident where any of us could have died at any second really lit a fire under her and she started to get hungry for tougher training… the gravity training is losing effect on her a tad as well so…gotta do something about that too.
And it showed in the form of being the only one who can get some decent licks in against the now monstrous alley cat who just has so much more speed and strength compared to before it's not even funny…
Ferroseed COULD still win if the situation follows perfect win conditions for her but the rest of the Pokémon are on to her tricks and never let her get herself set up, I'm working on ways around that so she can set up her vampiric juggernaut style regardless of opponent's..
Machop seeing the evolution and what it did for Persian started attacking his own body with every form of training he could, being so exhausted at the end he has to be balled till we get back home, regardless of heal pulses..
Skiddo has been amped up under gravity training, the deep snow and snow storms are really knocking him around especially with being a grass type, but he's learning to power through and doing a dam good job at it too…
Slowpoke is still working on control half the time but we kinda found a weakness of his accidentally while confronting the bears, it was he was too slow to gather any meaningful psychic attack at a moments notice if shit goes south fast….so he's been pushing out as much psychic energy out as quickly as he can as often as he can and results are showing even after only one session….not big results mind you, but it's a work in progress, baby steps
And then there is zigzagoon, poor poor zigzagoon. I think out of everyone he's the one who suffers the most… him being a smaller, not small mind you because he's 2'6 on all fours but smaller and less trained to keep up with others but still not really getting a handicap has caused him to barely be able to move under gravity…
Mind you he's been at this for almost a few months now so there is definite and solid improvement to the point where he can move…not freely, but not be smooshed into the snow…
But the most gruelling part of his training is his stealth and avoidance training I have Persian help him with where we move into a heavily tree'd area near our normal training ground and I hide his golden watch I let him keep on a tree and he has to find it, grab it and get the fuck outa there before he's caught or better yet without being noticed, persian only knows the general area of the watch and patrols around…
Which is insanely hard to do when a predator Pokémon is actively looking for you, but he's learning slowly to avoid Persians detection with helpful tips from the Tom Cat. I can't really give many tips as I'm just winging this, I'm just trying to get him to be able to avoid things and stay quiet for now…I'll just say persian is not gentle when he catches "prey"
Eventually I'll take zigzagoon to train in an urban setting with some things I've been thinking up but that can be for later…
Phanpy the little bundle of energy is a very much a baby and it shows with just how friendly he is with everyone, including Becky much to my chagrin. Not that I want him to hate becky but I don't want him to learn to trust any human bar me. Which sound a little groomy and it is but that's the world we live in..
Just rollout drills in a preset course around the heavily tree'd area that's a few feet deep in snow in heavy gravity, while also being attacked randomly from his fellow crew members with ranged attacks to break up his monotony…. With heavily pulled punches goes without saying, he's still a baby after all. So basically muscle, movement and avoidance training for now and I'll figure out more stuff later, I'm just building him up for now
We gather up slowly and teleport straight back home, with none of us in the mood to walk the normally 40 minutes journey that stretches into hours because a few feet of snow and random snow storms compliments of an asshole snow chicken demi god…
We port back into the "outside" fridge and freezer room where our excess cold foods and stuff are stored. It's been walled in now and we actually taped off a part of the ground for when we teleport in together so we don't have another incident like we did where we knocked Becky flying because she was standing where we all ported in…
Everyone dusted off and kicked off their snowy paws and what not before wiping them on the mat designed for that sort of thing. While it's not "warm" in here it's so much better than outside especially because the "room" cops some stray heat from the hallway heater.
Persian was the first to accost himself onto the Swinging Tauros Brush to help get off the snow and dirt off his fur while it also acts like a personalised massage station…
The thing was good value for its money, I even have thought of buying a second one to stop any potential arguments that this thing will eventually start due to being so popular but that's a thought for another time.
Now however I need to get my head in the game and head into town and pick up a few things and….teach becky how to be be paranoid semi functioning weirdo, just like me…won't this be fun?
I make it into the lounge room and see Becky already setting up food for me and my mons for lunch….man I'm gonna have to start doing that all by myself when she leaves…bah that's not my problem yet, that's a later me's problem..
As Becky is setting out all the food she comments
"Were you still going to teach me? If so are we doing it now or after you finish the next training session? If you want I could just-"
She was talking more and more nervously as she got deeper into her sentence
"Relax Becky, I said I was gonna teach you so I'm gonna teach you….I have to head into town after lunch so I can start then"
She smiles brightly and moves to get the food out quicker as persian wanders into the room looking rather dapper and pleased after a good hard brushing,
Everyone started trickling in and before you knew it we were all eating
No one really spoke or…communicated I guess you'd call it instead of spoke, everyone was busy getting as much food into their gullet as they could with phanpy still learning to eat properly….and by that I mean not almost dying because he wouldn't come up for air between bites and passing out in his food…I get worried and look back when I don't hear hi-
*GASP*
*PLOP*
There it is, the gasp of air before smashing his own face into his food bowl while spilling it fucking everywhere…oh no…I'll have to get rid of that habit somehow or I'll be forced to clean up after him after becky leaves!!
I turn to chide him but his foods already done and now he's napping on his side….next time I guess
We all finish up with no one being even a 10th as messy as our resident pigmy elephant and we bring our dishes to the bathroom to be cleaned later….note to self get a dishwasher…in sick of cleaning them in the shower…
But when all the dishes are away I start organising who I'm taking into town with me and who's staying behind
" alright machop, Persian, Slowpoke and Ferroseed are coming with me the rest are staying here to hold the fort….you'll be leaving marill and butterfree here as well becky"
She doesn't even hesitate before saying goodbye to her mons before stepping close and Slowpoke teleports is to an abandoned alley just inside of the abandoned zone after I balled the other 3 leaving only Slowpoke out
" you've failed the first test becky….not a great start"
"WHAT!? HOW!? I HAVNT DONE ANYTHING YET??!?"
"Keep your voice down…like a a general rule always keep it down and don't attract attention…you failed because you let someone take your Pokémon away from you, even let them teleport you somewhere away from them…you have 0 protection at this moment"
"But?….it's you?"
"Doesn't matter who it is, never leave yourself so defenceless. You only have 2 Pokémon right now but when you have more and a situation allows always have 2 Pokémon out of their balls near you…like always, danger and death is potentially behind every corner… if a person asks you put away your Pokémon unless you have absolutely no other choice never comply"
"But… it was you who asked? I trust you?"
" it doesn't matter who it is, if someone asks you ball or Pokémon it's a red flag and a reason to be cautious regardless of the situation…just assume they want to do something bad"
"What if the police want to talk with me and ask to put my Pokémon away?"
"Tell 'em you have trust issues….and if they insist they'll probably be dirty cops….rule number 1 is don't trust ANYONE, me included and always have a plan of escape"
"…..alright?"
We behind trudging through the snow covered street making our way toward "trainers retreat" to pick up some stuff before doing a little shopping at the pokemart.
"But like….what about Pokémon centers when you go to heal your Pokémon?"
" never hand over more than half your team at a time and leave yourself no way to hit back if something happens….so same thing really"
"But it's a Pokémon center? No one attacks or causes trouble in Pokémon centers….it's unheard of.."
"Bullshit, I'm almost positive that's just propaganda to keep people feeling safe and secure in centers, i can all but guarantee that Pokémon centers have been attack before…never hand your full team over and leave yourself open like that"
"Don't you think that's just a little bit TOO paranoid? I mean the Joy family who run the Pokémon center have been neutral since….forever I guess"
" doesn't matter how neutral people claim to be there is always something shady going on in the back ground….use their healing services all you want, hell even I want too….but NEVER hand over your full team to anyone for any reason, especially if they're balled…. And doubly so if your ball lock isn't broken"
"…..ok, I guess"
"You wanted me to teach you? This is me teaching you"
"Fair enough…"
We stay silent a few minutes as we trudge through the kind of plowed streets, which are getting busier as we make it further from the abandoned zone..
" it sound a little crazy doesn't it?"
"…..a little"
"But what you gotta understand becky is….our world is a world of danger and death, don't let the big civilised buildings and what not fool you. People will try and take from you the minute they get a chance to improve their own lot in life, it's just human nature…. But when you add in weapons of mass destruction that we call Pokémon, it can bring out the worst in people when the feel they can't be stopped and or caught"
"…..people aren't that bad….are they?"
"No….not all people, but the point of me trying to impart all of this on you isn't to turn you into some gloomy Gus that has to live in the shadows and avoid human contacts…it's to give you a mindset of always keeping your guard and to keep you alive where in a seemingly innocent situation turned bad would have seen you dead"
"….."
"Of course I'll probably teach you some other stuff…not all my tricks but a few of em….but I reckon this is the most important…"
She just looks at me while seemingly in thought, almost with a hint of concern, but I continued on.
"That orphanage really set the tone for me in the world and while I'm glad it didn't effect you as much as it did for me…even with all that what those assholes made you do….but my most prominent memory is limping along the sidewalk at night, bleeding and covered in injuries, wearing basically rags in winter going to fetch cigarettes and booze for a woman who would have killed me if I didn't….and seeing looks of apathy and aversion….which I'd totally understand if I was some homeless drug addled dude spouting nonsense and making people uncomfortable…"
I take a breath
"But I was…am a kid….something society is supposed to generally give a fuck about….but not a single person even asked if I was alright, no hand offered….nothing….just looks of disgust….something snapped in me that night…and I'd decided I'd look after me and mine and fuck everybody else…"
I look over to see Becky looking at me with sadness.. but I looked forward again and realised we were almost at trainers retreat
"And the only reason I spoke up that day I saw you dumpster diving to survive is because you saved my life…nothing more and nothing less…but…while I'm not saying I'm happy to have you around, I do appreciate and understand the fact that without you bludging off me as you do i probably wouldn't have any real social skills left by the time I actually needed to leave on my "journey" "
She kinda beamed a smile when I mentioned the backhanded compliment
" and while I don't trust you fully and likely never will, you're probably the closest thing I'll have to a human friend for the foreseeable future…..but Becky…..if you ever betray that "tentative trust" I promise you won't like how I respond…remember that…"
She almost shivered as I issued my threat, but it cleared up almost instantly as she went into silent thought as we made it through the doors of the super warehouse they call "trainer retreat"
Guy was the first guy to greet us again as he's usually hanging around the front of the store as a salesman/guide who preys on people for commissions and rushes to my side whenever I show up given how he's probably made more off me then any other single customer..
"Heya kid, what are we squeezing into your cart today?"
"Hey guy, I just needed a few sets of weighted vests and limb weights"
"No problem kid, just lemme-"
He ducks behind one of the many front counters and pulls out a rather heavy looking book and flips it open
"Ok and what Pokémon are we looking to get set up with some gear today?"
"Miltank and Persian….but the Persian is a big boy"
He flips through the pages as he talks without looking up.
"Don't worry about that, the gear is size adjustable, we have a lot of multi mon gear or gear that fits multiple Pokémon but the multi gear is always a little wonky so it's better to grab mon specific stuff in my experience….here we go…you want the PWS model 2208 and MWS 3234, the miltank one is rare, I'm surprised it's even in stock….I know I've personally never sold one…"
We all move to the inner warehouse to grab the gear as I ask
" so any interesting gossips lately?"
Trainers are in and out of this place almost more than a pokemart so it's always filled with gossip that's hard to pick up, especially as a hermit such as myself
"Uhh, just the "under control" gang war has ramped up again, which is just confusing considering the number of them that are being arrested or dying….just how many members do they have?…..oh and the snowstorms should break in about a month or so….so that's good news"
We exchange a little more small talk before grabbing the gear, heading to an empty unwatched alley and have Slowpoke move the gear home and port back before me and Becky head off to the pokemart
She's been oddly quiet…silently thinking to herself
"You good becky?"
"Huh?…yeah, just thinking about your advice from before"
"Good, also I want you to start reading up on kantonian species in all those books and encyclopaedias I picked up when you get a chance….also you and your Pokémon are gonna start coming on patrols and learning to battle harder fights….."
"...ok….."
With that we make our way to the pokemart to stock up, getting ready for whatever comes next
———
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